Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
Toro-ish, 5.75” x 48 ring gauge / $10.00, MSRP
A couple weeks ago I was in the Scottsdale area for work and Stephen LaPre (@CigarChairman) was gracious enough to show me around a couple cigar spots. We spend a nice time relaxing at Stag Tobacconist where he handed me this cigar. It is definitely not something that I was expecting that I would get to try especially since it is said to be a one time release and was released in very limited quantities. Thank you very much for the opportunity to try this cigar Chairman!
This cigar has was released at the end of last year in 25 count boxes. It has a very, very dark sungrown rosado wrapper with Dominican filler and binder It looks to me to be the normal Fuente 8-5-8 size. The wrapper showed a lot of oils as well as a good amount of tooth with some medium veins to it. When I gave it a squeeze it had some give but without any soft spots. Putting my nose to the wrapper I noted the light aroma of hay with barnyard coming from the foot. After I clipped it and took a cold draw on it I got notes of cinnamon and chocolate with a good draw.
The cigar took a judicious application of the torch to get it going. Once I got it lit it started off with chocolate, leather, and coffee with a hint of red pepper spice on the retrohale. After a few puffs on it I started to get some cream and cedar notes coming through as well. The draw was just about right, but the burn was slightly off like I normally experience with a Fuente. The spice did start to build towards the end of this third.
The spice continued to build as I moved into the second third. The flavors of cedar, leather, earth and coffee were very similar to the previous third. Surprisingly the band came off without ripping off part of the wrapper, which I’ve noticed has been a Fuente problem for quite a while. As I finished off this third the spice had definitely decreased in strength.
The final third saw the strength build but not a whole lot else. The spice came back and overpowered the light hints of cedar, cream and cinnamon I could get. I did get a slight nicotine hit from it as well.
Overall it was a good cigar. It definitely wasn’t something that rocked my world. However I do think that with a bit of age it would be a much more complex cigar with the spice not overpowering the other flavors in the end. The price isn’t bad for a Fuente limited edition so if I see some (highly unlikely) I will probably pick up a couple to lay down for a while.
Body: 7/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 6/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
Great review Keith, I have heard good things about this stick although not sure if any shops in my area will carry them they seem like a good buy. Nice Review.